Judah was the 4th of the sons of Jacob and Leah, the wife who was unloved. Legend says that he was a great warrior and was so strong that he could chew iron into powder. His voice was said to be so loud that it could be heard from Egypt to Canaan. Jacob called him a lion's cub.
Once while Judah was tending the flocks with his brothers, his father sent his favorite son, Joseph, to see how they fared. Fed up with the self-exalting dreams of their younger brother and the favoritism their father showed towards him, the young shepherds attacked Joseph and threw him into a pit to die. Judah, however, decided that they ought not to stain their hands with their own brother's blood and convinced them to sell Joseph to a caravan heading towards Egypt. The boys then tore Joseph's coveted coat of many colors and dipped it in goat's blood so it would look like a wild animal had eaten him.
A long time later, famine came to the land and the brothers went down to Egypt to buy food. Joseph, who had become Pharoah's right hand accused them of being spies and demanded that they bring his younger brother Benjamin with them the next time they came to trade.
After delaying as long as they could, the brothers convinced Jacob to send Benjamin with them to Egypt. Again, Joseph did not reveal himself to them. Instead he feasted them and sent them home with his cup hidden in Benjamin's bag. Then he sent his servants to bring them back and proceeded to prosecute them, saying that he must condemn Jacob's youngest son to slavery. Judah, however, refused to go, saying that he would take the boy's place as a slave because he could not bear to see the misery of his father if he returned home without the son of the wife he loved. At this Joseph made himself known to his brothers and invited the family to live in Egypt with him.
In spite of Joseph's dreams of grandeur, it was Judah who inherited the Promise from his father. When Jacob blessed Judah he said, "Your father's sons shall bow down to you...The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his...." (Gen 49:8-10). His words are believed to prophesy the coming of the Messiah.
Gen 29:35; 35:23; 37:26; 38:1-29; 43-46; 49:8-10
All scripture quotes are from the NIV Bible unless otherwise indicated.
Comments© 1998 by Suzetta Tucker
To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "Jesse Tree Advent Calendar - December 10
- Judah." ChristStory Christian Bestiary. 1998. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/10judah.htm
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